This will explain the story of how I became known as Private Goat. I was a young man who joined the Army in December 1968 and began my basic training at Ft. Bragg, N.C. Immediately I was assigned to Company C, Second Battalion, which I soon learned was nicknamed “Chargin’ Charlie.”
Our company differed from other companies on base as we had a mascot named Charlie. Charlie was a large, white goat who would follow us everywhere we went, soon becoming a real annoyance. We soon learned that our duties in the company would be that everyone was required to alternate taking turns walking Charlie on marches and keeping his pen cleaned. Charlie was quite a sight marching alongside of us, very proud of his drill sergeant’s hat that had been fitted to accommodate his ears to protrude through the top of the hat.
Our company’s time came to enter the dreaded gas chamber, and as I emerged my face was running and stinging, and we were told to form up and return to our company area. As we were standing in formation, our first sergeant inquired if anyone was missing anything. We all checked, and no one spoke up. It seems that Charlie had found a set of dog tags, and to my chagrin, they belonged to me. I was then informed that in order to retrieve my dog tags, it was necessary for me to crawl to Charlie and proceed to give him a BIG KISS. Having no other option, I DID!
Henceforth, I was known as Private Goat!